Camara on FREC pole at Imola, Ugochukwu’s disqualification confirmed

Photo: FRECA

Rafael Camara claimed his sixth Formula Regional European Championship pole of 2024 at Imola, as team-mate Ugo Ugochukwu had his Paul Ricard disqualification confirmed.

Prema installed Ugochukwu’s third engine of the season last time out and that meant a suspended double disqualification hung over him. If FREC’s technical delegate could identify a fault with an earlier engine, the penalties would not be applied.

No faults were found, an old engine has been put back in, and Ugochukwu lost his runner-up finish from race two at Paul Ricard. That dropped him from 10th to 12th in the championship, while G4 Racing’s Kanato Le earned a first podium.

Ugochukwu ran in Group B in Imola qualifying, with Camara in Group A which went on track first.

Sainteloc Racing’s Theophile Nael reached a representative pace before anybody else, setting a 1m41.610s eight minutes into the 15-minute session.

He was demoted to third a minute later, as Prema’s James Wharton set a 1m41.003s and Van Amersfoort Racing’s Pedro Clerot improved to 1m41.534s.

MP Motorsport’s Nikhil Bohra went to the top with a 1m40.644s, and led ART Grand Prix’s Evan Giltaire before R-ace GP’s Zachary David posted a 1m40.340s.

Going into the final five minutes that was beaten by Prema’s pair, with Camara breaking the 1m40s barrier to go quickest by 0.359s. VAR’s Brando Badoer slashed the gap to 0.076s a minute later.

David’s next lap returned him to the top, by 0.022s, then Camara moved back ahead by 0.232s by going fastest in all sectors. He did the same the lap after, improving to 1m39.414s. Wharton became his closest rival with a 1m39.691s, with David third and Nael fourth.

Camara was set for three successive impovements before backing off after facing traffic, and with 35s to go Badoer rose to third. He committed to another flyer, with others abandoning laps after Sainteloc’s Enzo Peugeot went through the gravel and brought some back on the track, and after the chequered flag got within 0.095s of Camara’s pace.

Clerot improved in sixth, and Trident’s Roman Bilinski was eighth in the first qualifying session of his comeback after a spell out of action due to a broken back.

ART GP’s Alessandro Giusti reached a representative pace first in Group B, setting a 1m40.805s almost eight minutes in.

Stromsted’s team-mate Giovanni Maschio failed to record a flying lap he picked up suspension damage in an incident with Iron Dames’ Marta Garcia and pitted.

Giusti lowered the pace to 1m39.783s and then 1m39.658s on his next two laps, with Taponen 0.161s and then 0.023s behind as he tried matching his improvements. R-ace’s Enzo Deligny was a further 0.003s back with less than four minutes to go, and Sainteloc’s Matteo De Palo was fourth.

But Giusti did not look beatable, continuing to improve in every sector. His next effort was a 1m39.504s, as his rivals did cooldown laps, and Stromsted went fifth fastest with two-and-a-half minutes remaining.

Giusti’s last shot at beating Camara failed, but he remained top of Group B as Taponen was 0.074s slower than him on his final lap. Iron Dames’ Doriane Pin crashed at the Villeneuve chicane and yellow flags waved, denying others a last push and meaning Deligny, De Palo and VAR’s late improver Ivan Domingues completed the top five.

Four-place penalties awarded due to contact at Paul Ricard means Badoer and Peugeot will start seventh and 27th in race one, and Ugochukwu will line up 16th.

Qualifying results